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#Workshops and Judges

CodeDay is about learning and having fun. A lot of the learning by doing, but students still love the serendipity of listening to tech talks.

We host workshops for three groups:

  • Beginners (students who don't know how to code)
  • Intermediate (students who know the basics of coding, but haven't built an app or game before)
  • Advanced (students who know how to code, and build apps/games in their spare time)

Consequently, we have the following structure for talks at CodeDay:

  • 2PM: Build a Game without Coding Experience
  • 3PM: Introduction to App/Game Development
  • 4PM and later: Sponsor Presentations

###2PM: Build a Game without Coding Experience

The 2PM workshop is a workshop on building a game without coding experience. You can have an intermediate/advanced programmer (even a student) teach this workshop, as it's pretty simple.

We use a tool called Construct 2, which allows students to build HTML5 games with drag and drop tools. Have a volunteer commit to learning Construct through the Beginner's Guide to Construct 2, and walk students through that tutorial for an hour. StudentRND has a license for Construct we can use at CodeDay events. Contact us and we can help distribute it to you.

It's a great way to get students started, and there are plenty of extra tutorials on the Scirra site, so that you can encourage students to spend the rest of the 24 hour period learning and building something they think is awesome!

###3PM: Introduction to App/Game Development

The 3PM workshop takes students who have taken programming courses and walks them through the basics of building an app or game. We don't have a defined course for this event just yet, but you can choose among the following suggestions:

  • Introduction to Ruby on Rails
  • Building a Game with the Corona SDK
  • Introduction to iOS development
  • Introduction to Android development

###4PM and later: Sponsor Presentations

These slots are reserved for sponsors. You may organize more classes with permission from the StudentRND organizers. However, it isn't recommended that you do so. After 6-7PM or so, students lose interest in presentations and want to work on their projects during CodeDay.

##The Keynote

In addition to getting speakers for the workshops, you'll also need someone to give the keynote - a brief talk at the beginning of CodeDay which sets the tone and inspires everyone. You'll want to make sure your speaker is relevant to your audience, and that they're aware of the intentions of the talk.

The keynote is an important component of attracting students to a CodeDay. Someone interesting and important speaking will encourage more students to click the "register" button, tell their friends, and be excited for the event.

##Judges

CodeDay is a competition, and a competition needs winners. A expert panel of judges goes a long way to boosting the legitimacy of the competition, and helps participants feel like they were treated fairly.

Judging panels at CodeDay are usually 4 people. Additionally, a volunteer usually sits in on the deliberation, to help the judges understand the criteria and to help where they may have questions.

Find four interesting and exciting people to put on the judging panel. When asking judges to participate, ask them to show up at CodeDay on Sunday 9AM, and expect to be finished by 1PM.